Chapter 4

Braden and Alison had immediately gone to the University Hospital after scrubbing off as much of the extracts as possible. The two had decided not to disclose exactly what had happened to them, but they had still been seen by every elemental doctor and given a full workup. It had been close to midnight by the time they got out of there, and the doctors hadn't been able to find anything physically wrong with them. Every organ system was functioning normally, and there was no reason to believe they would suffer any lasting bodily harm from what had happened. Magically, it was different story. Slowly characteristics of the other's element would slip out, and it was hard to control an element that hadn't been with them all their lives.

They were driving to Braden's apartment when he first discovered his new powers. He was crossing through a four-way stop sign when the person on the right didn't seem to be stopping. Braden had pointed his finger and snapped at the car as if to say, "stay." The friction of his fingers meeting caused a spark to form, and then his hand was engulfed by an angry red flame.

"Fuck! Fix it Alison!" He yelled. She immediately grabbed his hand with hers, taking control of the fire with the palm of her hand and closing her fist to damp it out. He was shaking and clearly stunned by what had just happened. He had luckily been able to keep hold of the steering wheel with his left hand but he was frightened by what would have happened if Alison had not been so quick.

"Shit Ali, I'm never going to get used to that. Does it do that all the time? I just snap my fingers and everything goes up in flame?"

"Just like the Air magic, you have to learn to control it. It will come. You've had 25 years to get your Air reigned in, it's not going to happen inside a day with Fire either."

"At least you already have control over the dangerous element. I'm not going to be able to be left by myself if I don't get a grip on this soon."

"Well Fire may be dangerous physically but believe me Air can be just as exasperating. I know way too much about all those nurses in the hospital now. Sally cheated on her boyfriend and doesn't know if she should tell him, Jessica wants to quit her job and move to the Bantura kingdom because the people there aren't 'stupid, ignorant assholes', and Cynthia wants to get a puppy because she gets lonely at night. Oh, and all three of them desperately want to fuck you. While I know women are going to want to sleep with you because you're all sexy and stuff, I don't want to have to hear them talk about it in explicit detail."

"Hmm, yeah finding the block for that is kinda hard, you have to find a way to seal your mind. It's almost like a constant force-field and then you let it down when you do want to hear what's being thought. If it makes you feel any better, I almost punched out the Air doc in there. He was thinking about some very dirty things he wanted to do to you. I had wanted to make sure that he wasn't picking up on the small breezes you were throwing out, but he wasn't really paying attention to your actions while he was listening to you breathe. I swear to god it took all my self-control to not send him flying across the room when he looked down your shirt."

She reached over the consol and took his right hand. She wanted to make sure he hadn't burned himself, but mainly she just liked having the weight of it in her lap. She gently caressed the reddened flesh with her thumb, and they continued to drive in silence before a question hit her.

"Do you think we can mix the magics? I know that if Air and Fire meet in the right way it will cause an explosion, but can we do that now? And since Air is a long distance magic, do you think we can use Fire magic from a distance too?"

"I don't know. We are our own test subjects on this one. It would be a pretty powerful weapon if we could. We could cause explosions miles away. There's a park near my place; we can go there tomorrow and test stuff out if you want." He pulled back his hand, taking hers with it and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

"That's a great idea. You have a fire extinguisher right?" She asked, thinking about what happened earlier.

"I thought that's what I had you for."

So early Saturday morning had found Braden and Alison standing in an empty field that was surrounded by trees and sectioned off from the rest of the nature reserve that was near Braden's apartment. They had decided to spend the night with each other because Braden's lack of control over Fire made it too risky for him to stay by himself. That, and the intense fear they had felt earlier had them both hesitant to leave the other's side.

The morning began with them taking turns walking each other through the basics of their elements. They quickly discovered that they had all the abilities of advanced Air and Fire elementals, most likely because Braden and Alison were each advanced in their own element and the stuff they were exposed to was extracts of their own magics. The problem facing them now was control. Braden could easily produce fire balls, but if he wasn't extremely careful they would grow too large in size and Alison would have to step in to contain it. Likewise, Alison could produce incredibly powerful air vortexes but she couldn't control their direction. She had already uprooted a few trees because if it.

Alison was unsure about what this meant for her research in the long run. It was fantastic that they were able to successfully acquire another elemental skill, but would this really be of practical use now? She had expected to create topical creams or pills for patients; she had never considered it possible to give doctors additional elements. Who knows what the long term affects of possessing multiple elements would be? Suffice it to say she would have to give this a lot more thought. She still planned on meeting with King Medeas though. She now had definitive proof that she wasn't crazy, and she planned to get as much funding as she possibly could. Whether she would tell the king about the accident or that she could now control fires outside her visual range, she wasn't sure.

They had returned to Braden's apartment for lunch. It was a very masculine residence, with maroon walls and leather furniture. His front door opened into a small hall that led to a spacious living room. Mahogany shelves lined the left-hand wall of the room, and an antique globe stood in the corner. His couch and stuffed chairs were arranged to center in front of an elegant flat-screen TV that hung on the wide, back wall of the room. To the right of the TV was a door that led to the back half of his apartment where his kitchen, bedrooms and office were located.

Having finished eating and taking showers to clean up from the morning's exertion, Alison and Braden were curled up together on his couch watching a made-for TV movie and mindlessly letting the day pass them by.

"I talked to my Dad while you were in the shower." She told him during a commercial break. "My meeting with the king is scheduled for Monday. I'll need to leave for Lutheria tomorrow. Are you sure you won't reconsider coming? I shouldn't just leave you here."

He drew in his breath as if to immediately respond, but then stopped and thought further about his answer. "I'll be fine on my own for a couple days. I promise to keep a fire extinguisher next to my bed."

"You wouldn't have to be a part of the presentation you know. You could just come and stay at my father's estate with me. I'm sure he would love to meet the guy I've been working with." She really wasn't ready to be away from him yet.

"I really think its best if I stay here, hun. Someone needs to keep an eye on the lab, and plus, we need to get started on re-making the extracts we lost."

"Hmm, that's true I guess." She said, conceding to his decision. "But I will miss you." She nuzzled further into Braden's chest and then turned her attention back to the movie.

Her father's estate was really a small complex that was a part of the larger royal castle structure and contained a main house, a garden and a guest house. Her father was Senator Richard Morris, and since he was currently working on a peace treaty with the Banturans, he was often in the presence of the king. When she had arrived there late Sunday afternoon, she was told that he was in a meeting with King Medeas and his advisory council and that she should not expect him back until very late. Not having her father home to greet her, she took the initiative of making herself comfortable in the room that was always hers when she stayed with him.

It was a nice-sized room, with soft lighting that made the light pink walls glow and allowed her to see the dust particles floating in the rays of light that were coming in through the balcony windows. A white four-poster bed was covered with a frilly, pale yellow comforter and was pushed against the back wall. Long windows framed the bed and looked out onto the front yard and to castle beyond it.

She settled on her bed with her legs crossed and began to look over her notes for her presentation tomorrow. She had brought her lab notebook with her and had made Braden make copies of his Air stuff too. Since Braden refused to come, she had to quickly become an expert on everything he did. Thinking about him made her miss him, and with a sigh, she closed her eyes and flopped down onto the bed.